Illinois Attorney Review: What Those First 5 Business Days of Your Contract Actually Let You Do

If you buy or sell a home almost anywhere in Chicagoland, you will almost certainly sign the Multi-Board Residential Real Estate Contract. After 25 years in real estate, the paragraph I still get the most questions about is attorney review. It is not a state statute. It is a contract term. And those first five business days after acceptance are one of the most important windows in the whole deal.

What Paragraph 13 actually says

Under Paragraph 13 of Multi-Board Residential Real Estate Contract 8.0 (a public fillable copy of the current Chicago-area form), within five (5) Business Days after the Date of Acceptance, the attorneys for the buyer and the seller may, by Notice:

1. Approve the contract
2. Disapprove the contract, but not based solely on the Purchase Price
3. Propose modifications other than the Purchase Price
4. Offer proposals that specifically refer to subparagraph 13(d)

That is the whole menu. It is short on purpose, and the details matter.

Modifications are a counteroffer (unless they say 13(d))

If an attorney proposes changes under subparagraph (c), those proposals are conclusively a counteroffer, even if the letter says they are not. If the parties have not reached written agreement on all of those proposed modifications by ten (10) Business Days after the Date of Acceptance, either party may terminate by serving Notice, and the contract is immediately deemed terminated.

There is a quieter option too. Proposals that specifically reference subparagraph 13(d) are not treated as a counteroffer. If those 13(d) proposals are not agreed, neither side can void the contract over them, and the contract stays in force. Anything that does not specifically reference 13(d) is treated as a 13(c) modification.

Miss the five days and you waive it

If Notice of disapproval or proposed modifications is not served within the five Business Days, Paragraph 13 is deemed waived and the contract remains in full force and effect. That is why I tell clients: get your attorney the contract the day it is accepted. Waiting until day four is how people lose options they thought they still had.

Business days are not calendar days

Paragraph 25 of the same Multi-Board 8.0 form defines Business Days as Monday through Friday, excluding Federal holidays. Weekends do not count. A federal holiday does not count. So a contract accepted on a Thursday does not give you five calendar days. Day one is the first business day after acceptance, and you count from there.

What attorneys usually look at

In practice, attorney review is where the lawyers clean up the deal: inspection and financing language, personal property, who pays which closing costs, condo or HOA documents, survey, and anything that does not match what you actually agreed. What they cannot do under Paragraph 13 is kill the deal solely because they do not like the purchase price. Price was already negotiated when the offer was accepted.

Attorney review is also separate from your inspection contingency and your financing contingency. Those have their own deadlines in the contract. Do not assume attorney review covers them.

Buyers and sellers: same clock, different jobs

Buyers: send the signed contract to your attorney immediately and ask what they need from you in those five business days. If you want changes, they have to go out as Notice inside the window.

Sellers: same clock. Your attorney can also disapprove or propose modifications. If the other side sends a 13(c) letter, the ten-business-day clock from acceptance is the outer limit for reaching written agreement before either party can walk.

And if Notice of termination is given under Paragraph 13, that termination is absolute. The contract becomes null and void when Notice is given, even if someone later tries to "reinstate" it by withdrawing a proposal.

Bottom line

Attorney review is a short, powerful window built into the Multi-Board form most Chicagoland deals use. Five business days to approve, disapprove (not for price alone), or propose changes. Ten business days from acceptance to finish negotiating those changes, or either side can terminate. Miss the five days and the right is gone.

Buying or selling anywhere in Chicagoland? Call or text me at 312.882.9797. You get full service at a 1% total commission, and I will make sure your attorney gets the contract in time to use every day of that review period.

This article is general information about the Multi-Board Residential Real Estate Contract 8.0, not legal advice. Ask your Illinois real estate attorney about your specific contract and deadlines.